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The Bastard

Name: The Bastard
Director: Duccio Tessari
Released: 1968
Duration: 102 min

Representation Score

2.4/10

Limited

1968

PG-13

Director

Duccio Tessari

Runtime

102 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

The Bastard is a quintessential Spaghetti Western that prioritizes genre-specific clichés over social subversion. The narrative is built entirely around a masculine conflict of vengeance, leaving little room for diverse perspectives or storytelling that reflects multiple aspects of identity. While the film features prominent Italian actors, the casting and setting adhere to traditional Western archetypes. It reinforces established social hierarchies rather than challenging them through character control or representation. Ultimately, the film functions as a character study of an outlaw. It uses physical trauma and moral ambiguity as tools for action, staying firmly within the conventional frameworks of 1960s cinema.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Bastard have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film centers on a traditional masculine vendetta and does not include any non-binary gender identities or narratives that question the assumption that everyone is straight or cisgender.

How does The Bastard portray gender?

Limited

Men drive the plot through the conflict between the two brothers. Women are mostly passive or secondary, serving as supporting elements to the main action.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Bastard?

Limited

The setting favors a specific demographic typical of the American West. The film does not use casting that deviates from the expected Anglo-Saxon profile to break the period setting.

How does The Bastard represent religion and culture?

Limited

The narrative emphasizes individual survival and moral ambiguity over Western institutions. It follows genre clichés of vigilantism without deconstructing authority or religious structures.

Does The Bastard include disability representation?

Minimal

Physical impairment serves as a plot catalyst for a vendetta. The protagonist's mutilated hand is used as a device for violence rather than a nuanced exploration of disability.

Present on Screen

The film provides a clear, high-stakes conflict driven by intense personal vendetta.
It effectively utilizes the stylistic conventions and moral relativism of the Spaghetti Western genre.

Limited or Absent

The narrative lacks women's ability to drive the story, relegating them to passive or secondary roles.
Physical disability is used merely as a plot device for violence rather than meaningful representation.
The film reinforces traditional gender and racial hierarchies common to the era's action cinema.

Official Synopsis

A criminal (Giuliano Gemma) seeks vengeance when his double-dealing brother (Klaus Kinski) steals his jewels and mutilates his shooting hand.

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